ATLANTA, Ga. – Zarique Nutter (Newark, N.J./Clarendon College) posted his first career double-double with a game-high 18 points and a game-best 15 rebounds, but the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team fell to Georgia Tech, 68-50, on Thursday night (Nov. 17) at McCamish Pavilion. The Huskies rallied from a 23-point halftime deficit to within seven early in the second half but a spurt by the Yellow Jackets helped holdoff the Huskie rally. 

"It was a tale of two halves, we really did a poor job in the first half," said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. "They came out and executed, we got ourselves down 26 and we had a late three to cut it to 23. In the second half, I thought we relaxed and played a lot better. They did a great job of really keying in on our two guards, Diggy Coit and Keshawn Williams, they had a tough night scoring the ball. Give these guys a lot of credit, we have a lot to work on. I thought my guys competed down the stretch in the second half. We just have to go back, watch film and get better."

Georgia Tech (3-0) took a 43-20 lead into halftime, but the Huskies opened the second half on an 11-1 run as Nutter scored seven while Oluwasegun Durosinmi (Lagos, Nigeria/St. Bonaventure) and Keshawn Williams (Chicago Heights, Ill./Tulsa) each added a basket to pull the Huskies back to within 13, 44-31. The run ballooned to 17-1 as Nutter made a free throw and David Coit (Columbus, N.J./Atlantic Cape CC) scored five-straight, trimming the Georgia Tech lead to 44-37 with 14:30 left to play. 

Coit finished with 10 points while Williams added nine. 

Georgia Tech responded with nine-straight as the lead grew back to 53-37 with just over eight minutes remaining. 

NIU (1-3) cut the deficit back to a dozen on a free throw from Durosinmi with a little over five minutes to play, but that was as close as the Huskies would get despite holding Georgia Tech to just 28.6 percent (8-of-28) shooting in the second half, including 1-of-6 (16.7 percent) from three. 

Four players scored in double figures for the Yellow Jackets, led by 14 points, and 11 rebounds, from Ja'von Franklin. Miles Kelly added 13 points, Dallan Coleman chipped in 12 and Deivon Smith added 11 points and a game-high six assists. 

A layup out of a timeout from Williams pulled the Huskies within four, 11-7, in the early going, but Georgia Tech used a 19-1 run to take a 30-8 lead with just under seven minutes to play in the opening half.  

Georgia Tech shot 46.3 percent (19-of-41) from the field in the opening 20 minutes while holding NIU to just 20 percent (7-of-35) shooting. Kelly led the Yellow Jackets with nine first half points, Nutter had seven to pace the Huskies. 

The Yellow Jackets outscored NIU, 42-24, in the paint in the contest and 17-6 in second chance points. 

NIU will return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 22, when they face Sam Houston in the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off in Fort Myers, Fla. Game time against the Bearkats is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT.